Not many, I hear you say? Well until this week that was, when Fry was presented as one of the figure heads of a brand new Enjoy England Campaign aimed to try and persuade the English to holiday at home in 2012. ‘Make it a Great 2012’ the 90 second commercial tells us, and in it, Fry, Julie Walters, Rupert Grint and Michelle Dochery (of Downton Abbey fame) try and convince the millions of English presently considering a holiday abroad that there is really no need to get a passport, currency, jabs and flight tickets, and to holiday in England instead.
As could be expected, the campaign has come in for quite a bit of stick, with Telegraph Travel writer Nigel Richardson being particularly outspoken. So much so in fact, that the clip – so he claims – has helped him decide to holiday in Greece instead! No doubt hugely appreciated by cash-strapped Greece, but not quite what the people at Visit England had in mind I suspect…
And of course, if you are so inclined, the campaign isn’t hard to knock. Is any campaign? £4 million spent on what we already knew? No rain drop in sight? Over-romanticising of ‘chocolate box England’ again? And of course the ultimate question: “So where do the actors holiday themselves?”. Arguments galore!
What should probably be pointed out is that most people in UK tourism, myself included, didn’t want this campaign. We didn’t want any campaign. In a rare moment of industry unity, we asked for just one thing: a fair trading climate, meaning that tourism and leisure related VAT would be reduced to 5%, bringing us in line with most other countries in Europe. This would allow for significant investments to be made, and help the industry deal with one of the common (mis?)perceptions that tourism in the UK is overpriced. Or in other words: help us compete on a level playing field.
The trading climate is tough for many in our industry, and most of us always knew that the Olympics were an unlikely force to boost UK tourism. Big events never do. If anything, they scare off potential tourists, added to which the timing of the Games coincides with what is already by far the busiest holiday season of the year: the summer school holidays. In all reality, if you don’t already do well during these weeks, you’re probably in the wrong job.
So given that a reduction in VAT in the current economical climate is as likely as Lady Gaga being asked to Chair the WI, we ought to be happy with any shot in the arm we can get. Remember that for decades now, UK Politicians have demonstrated a colossal lack of understanding, or indeed interest, in domestic tourism, even though this represents some 9% of GDP. So for them to be willing to invest at least some money back into our industry is surely a good thing. Yes they got the sentiment wrong when they thought they could impose a 20.12% discount on the industry (hugely missing the rather obvious point that 20.12% is virtually the same percentage as the VAT it makes us charge our guests!), but we managed to largely nip that in the bud, forcing Visit England to change it into a 20.12 Offer site instead. It is now up to everyone working in the industry to prove that Stephen Fry was right after all: Why would you want to be anywhere else than in England?
Ruud Jansen Venneboer
Mazzard Farm holiday cottages
East Devon
